Bargnani led the Raptors in the squad’s 111-99 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night with a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds.

For the first time in his career, Bargnani has grabbed seven or more rebounds in four consecutive games and people on both sides of the floor are taking notice.

“He’s playing like an all-star, he’s our franchise player,” said Amir Johnson, the other starting big man who shone with a 14-point, nine-rebound effort on perfect shooting from the field and the line.

“He comes in and does his thing and hopefully it continues for him.”

Thunder forward Jeff Green also spoke highly of Bargnani.

“They’re good, athletic (and) they’ve got a very good player in Bargnani,” Green said.

Bargnani set the tone for the Raptors, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first quarter.

He also rebounded from a horrid second quarter with excellent play in the third and fourth quarters.

Hold on to that ball

The Raptors had 10 first-half turnovers to Oklahoma City’s two. Sonny Weems had four of the turnovers in just 11 minutes.

Weems redeemed himself in the third quarter by slamming home two dunks off a couple of great passes from Jose Calderon and DeMar DeRozan.

Johnson said head coach Jay Triano told the team to take better care of the rock.

“He said just pick it up and grab the momentum,” Johnson said.

“We picked it up and took care of the ball.”

Run 'n' gun

The Young Onez movement continues to gain steam.

The Raptors were at their best when charter members Johnson, DeMar DeRozan and Weems were running the floor.

With a little help from Calderon, the youngsters took it to the Thunder in the third quarter.

Playing above the rim at both ends of the floor, the Raptors outscored Oklahoma City 34-25, turning a 59-52 halftime deficit into a 86-77 lead through three.

“They were moving the ball; we just couldn’t keep up with the pace,” said the Thunder’s Green.

“We just played harder than them today. We just outplayed them,” Johnson said.

Perhaps no one moreso than Johnson.

“I’m not sure Amir can play any better than that,” Triano said.

No help from three

The Raptors were able to stay close to the Thunder throughout the first half despite a massive disparity in shooting success from long range.

Toronto started 1-for-7 from three, while Oklahoma City went 3-for-4.

The final numbers were 3-for-15 for the home side, 7-of-18 for the visitors, but it didn’t matter much.

Quiet encore

After impressing in his NBA debut, Ed Davis had a more understated performance in Game 2.

Davis collected six points, four rebounds and two assists, but once again did not look out of place.

Athlete central

The NBA is full of spectacular athletes but the Thunder might be the team most stacked with the type.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are the two most obvious examples, but centre Serge Ibaka is a pretty ridiculous specimen himself, while Thabo Sefolosha combines hoops with great length and timing to be a major disruptor on defence. Sefolosha made his presence known early with a block on Weems and a steal, while Ibaka had a massive block on DeRozan.

That was tough?

Linas Kleiza and longtime Raptor Morris Peterson didn’t think much of the reception LeBron James received upon his return to Cleveland on Thursday night.

While fans booed and hissed at James, most people expected far worse.

Kleiza chuckled when asked how it compared to things he has seen while playing in Europe.

Safe to say dodging ball bearings and coins is a little more intimidating.

Peterson said the fans were more vocal and impressive at the ACC when Vince Carter made his return to this city.

Peterson agreed with Carter, who tweeted late Thursday that he got it worse, that James got off a bit easy.

“They let him know what they wanted to ... (but) the fans here, they can get pretty loud; it’s rocking,” said Peterson, who received a loud ovation from the crowd when he checked in for the Thunder.